2020 Retrospective

It would be easy to focus on the things that didn't go as planned this year (i.e. most of it). We've all had our lives turned over. But I'm going to try to focus on the positive for my retrospective. Start as you mean to go on and my focus this entire year and into the next has been a focus on the positive.

Lady Vivienne

Indy doing yoga

My family grew this year. My 3rd nephew, Dawson, was born in August, healthy and strong. My sister continues to do well despite the disruption of COVID as a teacher and her husband being an essential worker (if your power is on, thank a lineman). I have a new kitten and she has brought us much joy. Indy continues to truck along, an old boy now. at 13 He's as healthy as a geriatric dog can be and still has the energy to get his nightly walk. My girlfriend and I have grown closer during quaruntine and gotten through it together. 

I hit my 2 years at Humana this month. Since January, I've been in a great role as a process consultant. My team is fantastic, people I really enjoy working with. The role was designed as work from home, so I didn't have to change modes when the Humana workforce was moved home. It's been an honor to work for a company that has taken the health of both their employees and the members so seriously. Watching their efforts to offset secondary effects of the pandemic - food insecurity, isolation, extra costs - has been incredible. And the fact that Humana is doing well means I can afford to support others is less stable situations, which has been a habit I hope to maintain going forward.

After 19 years and countless hours worked, I left the org after the behavior of their Board showed that they were taking actions to avoid being held accountable. I am always willing to help a group grow and do better, but when the leadership shows itself to be unwilling to change and to be taking active efforts to punish those pushing for change, I will not give them my time and energy. It was an easy choice, in the end, and I haven't regretted a day of it. Along with this came several people showing their true colors. Removing their toxicity from my life has been a joy and I am grateful to them for making it so easy.

This has freed up my energies for other, purposeful hobbies and we've been choosing carefully. It's been toes in thus far, given the pandemic means most groups are limited in their ability, but I'm happy with the choices we've been making. I expect to see this grow as gatherings resume in 2021.

At the very beginning of the year, I found a yoga studio I love. While my ability to practice in studio has been limited by the pandemic, I've been able to support them as they develop an online presence. Even better, I've made a close friendship with the owner, who happens to also be a fantastic person. A very unexpected but very welcome surprise for the year.

Jennifer's brother moving to Phoenix has brought family and the prsence of a toddler, which has been a wonderful experience for us. Having her around and getting to be aunts is so much fun. One of the most important relationships in my life is with my aunt and I'm glad we're getting to develop something similar with her. Her parents are lovely people and having this family unit locally has been a true joy.

Also, the Dodgers won the World Series. Just needed to make sure that was recorded.

We have been exceedingly lucky this year and I am grateful for it. 

Why I Support...Swindled

 

There is very little that makes me as angry at white collar crime. Partly because it so often takes advantage of people in precarious situations and partly because it's so rarely prosecuted. But hearing about it is key, especially since the lack of prosecution often allows this brand of criminal to return to public life without any consequences. Enter Swindled.

Swindled in an independent podcast produced by an anonymous host called A Concerned Citizen (ACC). He speaks in an even and almost monotonous voice, which took me a little time to adjust to. I've grown to truly appreciate it because it lands some of his sarcasm incredibly well and because the topics are so infuriating that outrage on his part would be overdone. Each episode covers 2 swines - an intro and then a connected main story. ACC is unafraid of backlash and, in true Millineal fashion, posts the complaint emails and DMs he gets to his IG feed (which I also follow). This is also seen in his choice of targets - he's gone after Dole and the banana republics, Mother Theresa, the Space Program, con artists, politicans, and public servants. The first episode I listened to was about the Dalkon Shield, which Crime Junkies also did as a crossover. I have never been so enraged by a podcast and I was hooked.

From a design perspective, the music is excellent (music is produced by Deformr (aka Trever Howard) and each episode gets some killer artwork, much of which becomes available as various types of merch. ACC clearly cares a lot about his work and I appreciate how much research and sheer time is involved since he's a mostly single-man enterprise.

I am a Patron on Patreon for Swindled and I've been eyeballing merch though I haven't gotten any yet. Mostly, I needed access to extra episodes (I have a problem). As large podcast networks start popping up and consume independent entities, supporting independent or small podcast entities it critical in determining what kind of programming will be available in this media as it continues to grow. As ACC likes to say, it sucks to live in late stage capitalism and try to create something, but rent must be paid.

Money truly is the root of all evil.

Why I Support...NPR's Up First

We all know the world is on fire and there are very few outlets any of us have right now where that isn't on display. That's not necessarily a bad thing - we should be aware of and invested in the lives and experiences of others, especially when it's outside our usual functioning. Empathy for the struggles that others face should be our goal. But the overwhelming nature of how many things are currently awful does not make it easy to digest what else is happening in the world or actual newsworthy items among the chaos.

Up First is an NPR podcast, so my support for it is part of my donations to the local NPR station (mine is KJZZ in Arizona). I've always supported NPR, wherever I lived, starting with WAMU in DC. It both acclimates me to the local culture, which is crucial when you move often, and keeps me nationally and internationally informed and aware. I listen to a lot of NPR podcasts I'll eventually go through, but this one is first.

Up First is a brief morning podcast Monday - Saturday. The hosts are familiar to anyone who listens to NPR -  Rachel Martin, Noel King, David Greene and Steve Inskeep during the week, Lulu Garcia-Navarro and Scott Simon on the weekend. It's short - about 15 minutes - and covers 3 major stories. It's not the full Morning Edition but it is a really brief overview of major stories of the day.

The true value I have found in this is that getting this brief update on news that is valuable helps innoculate my mind from doom scrolling through various feeds, numbingly seeing but not really absorbing anything. It has done wonders for my mental health. I enjoyed it before all of this started as a quick update, but now it is a tool against the mental stress of the current world. 

Why I Support...Crime Junkies

True crime is a genre that is everywhere. Between Netflix, podcasts, and miniseries, it's having a moment. The problem I run into is that I get pretty gross feelings about true crime as entertainment. It's someone's life you're gawking at and, by the nature of the genre, not one they usually have any say in how it's portrayed. So I have some benchmarks for consumption of true crime that basically come down to if it feels like advocacy vs shock factor or pure entertainmnet.

Crime Junkie is a podcast produced by friends Ashley and Brit. They talk through one case every Monday. The cases are often designed around advocacy - they have contributed money to the DNA Doe project as well as family member's advocacting for changes in laws or attention being paid to their case. They try to focus on underreported demographics, such as people of color, whose disappearances don't get as much attention as white victims. And this is why I support them - I am a Patron on Patreon, as well as a purchaser of their merch (the Season of Justice muscle shirt is my favorite yoga shirt). They are self-produced and if you listen through their backlog, you can hear the way they've grown. 

Ashley and Brit are a super relatable friendship that has spanned most of their lives. They are also big supporters of dogs (Ashley's dog, Charlie, signs off every episode and their company, audiochuck, is named for him). Once a month they do a Pruppet of the Month to showcase a listener's dog and use it to raise awareness for dogs available for adoption in various areas. The pictures on their website of the Pruppets are too cute. Also, go back in the history and listen to Brit force Ashley to give up doing Pruppet of the Month because she couldn't get through them without crying. Brit runs them and now Ashley's sniffles are just in the background. 

Their friendship is what makes it an enjoyable listen to me, their heart for victims and advocacy work does good for my soul. I've donated to their causes, signed petitions, and supported the podcast and merch store. 

Take a listen. Check out the information on their website. Maybe make a If I Go Missing file. If you like true crime, this one might be for you - especially if you get the icky feeling using someone's worst day as entertainment.

Be weird. Be Rude. Stay Alive.

A Little Realignment

It's been not quite a year since my last post. Things have been busy and I have had little bandwidth for unnecessary and added stress. But I like blogging about the podcasts I'm listening to, so I decided to reformat.

I will be going over individual podcasts, which will be categorized as:

Why I Support... for podcasts I financially support on Patreon or through merchandise purchases

Why I Listen... for podcasts I listen to but do not support

I will tag them with various categories, including by podcast studio if they have one, and keep a running list in the sidebar of the blog.

So that's the plan. Hopefully I can update regularly until they are all up and then it's just a matter of keeping current. The goal, to provide information on podcasts for those seeking something to listen, remains the same. Let's see how this works.

Rosenstrasse

Back in 2010 I planned my first Jewish wedding. It was an awesome experience, in part because I got a learn the beautiful marriage and community traditions of Judaism and in part because the couple were just incredible people who needed help getting married. It was my honor to provide that help and then to remain in their lives since.

Particularly, Jess has been a wonderful person. She has shared her culture and been kind enough to answer many questions, to patiently point out when I'm wrong, and graciously accept apologies. Basically, she's what we all hope to be.

And now she's created a game, along with her creative partner Moyra. The game is best described by their own words, which you can read in the Campaign section of their Kickstarter.

Whether you like supporting women, independent games, historical and cultural education, or just an awesome person, you should support this game. I did.

Rosenstrasse Kickstarter

Februrary Podcast Review

This month I added to my ongoing, cleared 3 more terms ones (OMG Slow Burn is so good), and added to my On Deck circle. Oh, and the biggest news...I have a pretty logo, courtesy of my friend GG. It allows me to post on Instagram!

See, I can social media...

Ongoing

10 Things That Scare Me - This one calls itself a tiny podcast, which is accurate given the episodes are about 6 minutes. They are just people running through a list of what scares them, with some elaboration. There are a lot of people that are familiar and it's a nice background noise kind of podcast.

After the Fact - biweekly - Every episode is centered around a statistic and digs deeper into the background of that statistic. The episodes are around 20 minutes.

Anthropocene Reviewed - John Green - monthly - John Green reviews 2 unrelated topics on a 5 star scale. This month it was Velociraptors and the film Harvey. The latter was particularly touching. The former was recommended by his son.

Awesome Etiquette - Lizzie Post and Daniel Post Senning - weekly - This is presented by two of the Post kids on behalf of the Emily Post Institute. An ongoing foray into modern and historical etiquette.

Battle Tactics for your Sexist Workplace - Jeannie Yandel and Eula Scott Bynoe - biweekly - I heard these hosts on Unladylike and I love them. They tackle different aspects of work life, how it's sexist, and how to address it. I'm excited for the second season to get under way.

Cults - Greg and Vanessa - weekly on Tuesdays - This covers a cult, usually in two episodes. I find cults and the psychology of the people who lead and join them really fascinating. My only quibble is this group puts everything older than 6 months behind a paywall at Stitcher. These hosts also host one on Serial Killers, which might end up on my list at some point.

Getting Curious with Jonathan Van Ness - Jonathan Van Ness - weeklyish - JVN, of Queer Eye fame, goes into a different topic each week with an expert. I've gotten a lot of other podcasts from him and he's the reason I joined Instagram. Mostly, he's pure joy, though some people might find his boundless enthusiasm, quick delivery, and vernacular somewhat grating. He's definitely a post-tea listen for me, but then I can listen for hours. I've been slowly listening through his back catalogue.

Lifemancy - Rachel Wilkinson - 2x a month (new moon and full moon) - The newest podcast on my ongoing list, this one is presented by my friend Rachel and explores various aspects of magic and the occult, where it overlaps with science and culture, and how you can take aspects away from it even if you don't buy into it all. If nothing else, listening to Rachel will make you laugh and leave you happier.

Make Me Smart - Kai Ryssdal and Molly Wood - weekly - Kai and Molly deep dive into various economic, technologic, and cultural topics, some of which connects back to things touched on in Marketplace.

Marketplace - Kai Ryssdal - daily Monday-Friday - I loved Marketplace on NPR, but I'm never in my car anymore since I bike to work. I listen to the previous evening every morning. My understanding of world and national economics is due to this program and Kai's voice doesn't grate me early, so this is the first one I listen to at work.

Marketplace Morning Report - various - 3x daily Monday-Friday - To add onto the Marketplace knowledge, these are short (around 7 minutes) updates in the morning that give a brief view of financial and economic news. They're done via the BBC.

The Moth - 2x a weekish - The Moth hosts live storytelling and the podcasts are collections around a topic. The individual stories are around 10 minutes each and the episodes are generally about an hour.

The New Yorker Radio Hour - weekly - This podcast pulls on writers and contributers to the New Yorker, highlighting books reviewed or stories published.

NPR Politics - I love this podcast! A few reporters on differet topics (Congress, The White House, voting, etc) get together when there is political news to report, including an end-of-week roundup. Generally pretty short and covering a variety of topics, but awesome. A good nonpartisan overview.

On the Media - Brooke Gladstone and Bob Garfield - 2x a week- Another NPR segment I like that looks into various issues related to the media, usually around a central topic. They are often very critical of their own industry, which I like hearing.

This Movie Changed Me - Lily Percy - biweekly - I caught an episode of this on a long car ride on NPR and started listening to it when it released. Every episode is a conversation with someone about a movie that changed their life. It's amazing. Hasn't updated since October 2018, so I'm itchy for a new episode.

Unladylike - Cristen Conger and Caroline Ervin  - weekly - All caught up! These girls are great in their continued exploration of the patriarchy and its effects. A personal favorite - they are the first to say that, as white women, they don't have a full view of the damage patriarchy does since they're protected by whiteness, so they have taken a lot of efforts to showcase women of color, as well as queer women.

Term

Broken Harts - Remember the story about the two white women who adopted 6 black kids and then drove off a cliff, killing everyone? I'm a sucker for true crime and this one was intriguing. Also, it's presented by Glamour, which is a magazine I've been subscribed to for 14 years. Very interesting, very detailed.

Slow Burn - I got this one from the NPR Politics podcast. Season 1 covers Watergate in incredible detail. Season 2 is the Clinton Impeachment. The focus of both is what it was like then, in the moment of it happening, and the results are incredible. I've thought a lot about the similarities between them since listening and there's probably a future blog post about it. They haven't said anything about a season 3 so I'm calling it term.

Standoff: What Happened at Ruby Ridge? - This one came from Slow Burn, as both are productions of Slate. It's a 5 episode dig into what happened during the standoff at Ruby Ridge and the results of the investigations and cultural impact. I have never really understood it so it was a really great listen.

On Deck

Boom! Lawyered - I heard about this one from Unladylike when one of the hosts was on the show. Looking forward to getting a better view of the legal system.

BackStory - I heard one of the hosts (Nathan Connolly) on one of the Slow Burn live episodes and it made me want to listen to him more, so I found his podcast. There are others on here as well but he's why it's on my list.

Katie Couric - I listened to Katie on JVN's podcast and adored her, so I want to give her show a listen.

Rachel Maddow presents The Bag Man - I love Rachel Maddow. I want to see if I love her podcast. It's about corruption in politics so...probably.

Small Doses with Amanda Seales - I heard Amanda Seales on Unladylike (so many good guests!) and I liked her, so I want to see if I like her for a number of episodes.

Still Processing - Wesley Morris was on Slow Burn. I loved his commentary so I'm following his podcast.

Tilted: A Lean In Podcast - So I have some serious issues with the whole Lean In thing, mostly because it was aimed a very specific segment of the population but presents itself as doable for anyone. That said, the podcast is supposed to be about the challenges and ingrained misogyny in the workplace. I'm withholding judgment.